Dunefarble Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 I'm having trouble with one of my sponge filters - the black background tank. Bubble size has been large and the water has been cloudy for about a week now, versus the tank with the green background. I took the filter out and cleaned it, cleaned the airstone, and even changed the airpump without getting any change. Its got a ziss airstone and I normally run it on a nano USB airpump but have swapped it to a penn plax 2k3 30 gallon. The tank is a 10. If I unplug the air pump I can blow through the tubes just fine its just.... not performing to the same level as my other tank. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Have you tried replacing the felt discs, yet? You might also have the Ziss stone tightened down too much. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 (edited) I think the air stones are adjustable, so you might try that. If that is not the problem, try switching air pumps to see if one of them is underperforming.. Cleaning a filter too often is a bad idea. A clean filter does not work because the beneficial bacteria is washed away with the filter gunk. I have a black background tank and I plasti-dipped my sponge filter black so it did not stand out so much. Plasti-dip is an aquarium-safe spray-on plastic coating you can get at Lowes or Home Depot. Edited January 1, 2022 by HH Morant 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunefarble Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 I've turned the airstone up and down and everything in between with NO change. Not 'its not going to what I want' but 'its not changing at all'. I would replace the discs, but I'm out and I don't know where to get more. I did try rinsing them out, but it didn't effect it. When I say clean the filter I mean I made sure none of the airline was clogged and nothing had come loose. I love plastic dip too, all my aquariums are backed with it, but I don't mind the green of the filter. My other 10 gallon's sponge filter is working perfectly, its only one that's misbehaving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunefarble Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 Okay, now I'm even more confused... I swapped the filters from one tank to the other, and now the "bad" filter is perfect and the "good" filter is under performing? So it must be the tank water? Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 10:18 AM, Dunefarble said: Okay, now I'm even more confused... I swapped the filters from one tank to the other, and now the "bad" filter is perfect and the "good" filter is under performing? So it must be the tank water? Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Is the “underperforming” filter in a deeper tank? Deeper water means it takes more air pressure to run the air stone. You might need a stronger air pump to reach more depth. They do make air pumps designed for deeper tanks. And you can buy new felt pads from ACO. Or you could. I don’t see them now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunefarble Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 11:22 AM, Odd Duck said: And you can buy new felt pads from ACO. Or you could. I don’t see them now. Yeah, I just looked to see if I could get more. They're both 10 gallons sitting right next to each other. The only difference I can think of is that 1 has a KH of 3 and 1 has a KH of 11. Everything else is pretty much identical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 12:15 PM, Dunefarble said: Yeah, I just looked to see if I could get more. They're both 10 gallons sitting right next to each other. The only difference I can think of is that 1 has a KH of 3 and 1 has a KH of 11. Everything else is pretty much identical. I just can’t imagine that would make such a difference. I’ve got a variety of water in my 10’s and see no significant difference between tanks. It is likely the high KH stone would clog sooner, but it shouldn’t matter when swapping them directly from one tank to the other. Have you put both in the same tank at the same time? And tried swapping both between tanks to see if it’s consistent between both stones in the high KH tank at the same time? You need to run a little research study here. 😉 😆 Have you tried soaking the felts in vinegar? That might revive them temporarily (after a good rinse and soak in plain water afterwards, of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunefarble Posted January 1, 2022 Author Share Posted January 1, 2022 No, I haven't tried both in each tank at once, I'll try that tonight (had to run errands). I worry a little about stressing my fish with the swaps though, think its worth putting them in quarantine while I mess with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 12:27 PM, Dunefarble said: No, I haven't tried both in each tank at once, I'll try that tonight (had to run errands). I worry a little about stressing my fish with the swaps though, think its worth putting them in quarantine while I mess with it? I’d just do quick swaps to see the bubbles. Shouldn’t be too much stress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 I think moving the fish to a different aquarium would cause more stress than quickly dipping a filter in the aquarium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 It's the air pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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